If Republicans Had Balls, They’d Repeal Obamacare in Full

The Republican “alternative” to Obamacare isn’t a repeal, but merely a few clumsy modifications which fail to address the original law’s most blatant shortcomings.

In addition to forcing insurers to allow adults to remain on their parents’ health plans until age 26, the updated law will still forbid insurers from denying coverage or charging more to people with preexisting conditions. These mandates require the abandonment of the actuarial tables and risk analysis which make the concept of insurance functional. They create a subsidized system within state-defined parameters with only the flimsiest facade of “privatization.”

The proposal also includes direct government subsidies, does not repeal the unfunded (and statistically useless) expansion of Medicaid, and encourages insurance companies to charge more—not for preexisting conditions which are relevant to consumption—but for lapses in coverage which are not.

If Republicans had any balls, they’d repeal Obamacare in full, repeal Medicaid expansion (hell, they should repeal Medicaid in its entirety while they’re at it), open up the sale of insurance products across both state and international borders, remove all existing restrictions on coverage caps and other regulations on what insurance must cover, and let the free market go to work. They should also allow unlimited tax deductions for charitable giving to encourage the private sector to help those who can’t afford healthcare or health insurance.

But Republicans (just like Democrats) don’t give a damn about freedom or about helping people. They all just want to get reelected.

Parrish Miller has worked as a web designer, policy analyst, blogger, journalist, digital media manager, and social media marketing consultant. Having been largely cured of his political inclinations, he now finds philosophy more interesting than politics and is focused particularly on alternative ideas such as counter-economics, agorism, voluntaryism, and unschooling.